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American Reunion gallery

What parents need to know

Positive messages

Amid the raunchy humor is the message that friends and couples need to make the effort to maintain relationships, whether it's the occasional night out with the guys or scheduling time for a husband and wife to be alone without the kids.

Positive role models

The characters here are mostly trying to do the right thing -- even if they might try to do it after a few too many drinks. They stick up for their friends (even the most obnoxious ones), and the guys remain devoted to their wives despite many temptations to stray.

Violence

Several people get into a drunken brawl outside a party, with plenty of punches, kicks, and knock-down, drag-out fighting. Some couples get into heated arguments.

Sex

Male and female nudity, including bare breasts, male backsides, and an extended look at one man's penis. Several sex scenes include vigorous thrusting and suggestions of oral sex, given by both genders. Both men and women are interrupted masturbating, and there's a not-so-brief look at online porn (with sound effects). Plus nearly constant talk about sex -- who's having it, who isn't, who wants to, and how -- usually in the crudest possible terms.

Language

Every possible swear word -- from "f--k" to "s--t" to "p---y" and more (including "c--k," "d--k," "ass," "hell," "oh my God," and more) -- is used, multiple times and often in creative permutations.

Consumerism

Apple products make an appearance, as do Chevy cars and online retailer Amazon.

Drinking, drugs, & smoking

Anywhere the crowd is gathering, there's plenty of drink, including beer, shots, wine and hard liquor. Several scenes feature underage drinking, including a long sequence in which a very drunk high school girl celebrates her 18th birthday. One woman lights up a joint, and another group passes around a bong at a party.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that although American Reunion tries to recapture the success of the original -- and equally raunchy -- American Pie, it doesn't quite succeed. What it does succeed at is being extremely crude and crass; there's both male and female nudity (including an extended shot of a man's penis), very suggestive sex scenes, and nearly constant talk of sex. There's also lots of drinking (including a very drunk 18-year-old), some drug use, and nearly constant swearing -- it's easier to try to count the sentences without profanity than to quantify the curses heard here. If teens have already seen the earlier movies in the series and can handle the content, then this won't be a departure; but if they're not, something less over-the-top would be a better pick.

User reviews

Parents say

Kids say

What's the story?

It's been 13 years since the American Pie gang graduated from high school, and they've all grown up and gone their separate ways. Jim (Jason Biggs) and Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) are still together and have added a kid to the family, Oz (Chris Klein) is a successful TV sports reporter, and Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) seems to have dropped off the grid. But the siren call of an AMERICAN REUNION brings them all back home (they were a bit too disorganized to schedule it 10 years after leaving school), and they quickly find themselves rekindling old friendships -- and in some cases wondering whether the fire has truly gone out of some of those old flames. And of course, it wouldn't really live up to the original film's legacy of laughs if the entire weekend wasn't filled with liquor-fueled hijinks, thanks to inveterate troublemaker Stifler (Seann William Scott).

Is it any good?

QUALITY

Reunions are meant to remind you of the best of high school, but American Reunion serves as a reminder of a basic life lesson: Leave well enough alone. Though it's nice to see the gang all together again -- they did have amazing rapport in the original -- the bloom quickly falls off the rose, and it's clear that too much time has passed. We discover we don't much care anymore about the group, save perhaps for Jim and Michelle (and even then, it's only a little).

Since the first film was released, a stream of funnier, edgier ensemble movies and comedies has come and gone -- The Hangover, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Superbad -- and they've blazed newer, more memorable trails. The jokes here are tired; the takeaways predictable. (Marriage needs work? You don't say.) And the plotlines are flabby and bordering on creepy -- for example, the one about Jim and his next-door neighbor. It's a little like going to your own reunion and discovering that you're not as nimble, as hardy, or as, well, young as you once were. Only, if it was your own reunion, you'd hope to discover that you were wiser and better and happier. American Reunion, sadly, isn't.

Families can talk about...

Families can talk about what teens think of sex and what parents think of teens having sex. It's also a good opportunity for parents to answer whatever questions teens may have, both about values surrounding sex and about safe sex.

Do you think American Reunion is raunchier than the original? How does it compare to other over-the-top comedies in recent years? What other movies and TV shows reach for a laugh this way?

How have the characters changed since their high school days? How are their relationships different? Do you think this is a realistic look at how friendships and marriage change over the years?

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When you use our links to make a purchase, Common Sense Media earns a small affiliate fee from Amazon or iTunes. As a nonprofit organization, these funds help us continue providing independent, ad-free services for educators, families, and kids while the price you pay remains the same. Thank you for your support.Read more

well

i have not seen any of these ungodly movies nore do i plan to any time soon but for those of you who do like this sort of thing please remember that this movie is rated R and there is plenty of good reason not to take your kids to see this one please remember all the good dirty fun you had with the last 3 movies and keep in mind that it is definatly not for kids and is an adult movie to see this easter weekend for adults

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